Project
results (based on published abstracts listed below): Brine
rejection due to sea ice formation in the Okhotsk Sea produces a dense shelf
water that is the densest water formed in the North Pacific (excluding marginal
seas that are connected only through shallow straits).It is the densest precursor to North
Pacific Intermediate Water. Observations through the winter of 1999-2000 showed
the presence of brine rejection and formation of the dense water (sigma theta =
26.92 kg/m3), with an estimated annual production rate of 0.3 Sv. The brine
rejection record is one of the clearest anywhere of a monotonic increase in
salinity after the onset of sea ice formation.

The field work was carried out in collaboration with Prof.
M. Wakatsuchi (U. Hokkaido), Dr. Y. Volkov (FEHRHI, Vladivostok), and Drs. V.
Lobanov, P. Tishchenko and I. Zhabin (POI, Vladivostok)